stretchstretch

I generally was on KWs side of things at the beginning of the season, though Frank's contributions to White Sox baseball will always be remembered fondly. Now that he's going to the playoffs with team who has a solid shot to go the distance, and we may not, are people here happy for him?

QUOTE(WCSox @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 07:09 PM) Our pitching was also a hundred times better last year than it is now. Given that, I'll take 2/3 against the D-Rays. Sweeps are icing on the cake and it's unreasonable to expect the Sox (or any other team) to sweep anybody... even the bottom-feeders. Winning each series is a more reasonable goal. If the Sox win 2/3 of their next 29 games, they'll end up with 97 wins. That'll almost certainly get them the Wild Card... and possibly the division title if the Tigers continue to suck. good point, look back at the DRays 2nd half lots of 1-3 series against NY, Det, LAA, CLE, a sweep of a good TEX team, then getting swept by teams they shouldn't like Seattle and Baltimore, bottom line is they don't lose em all. However, the problem is we were a good asshair away from losing the two games we did win in this series, so it was a weak 2-3 rather than a solid series for the pale hose.....simply nothing to feel good about moving forward from this point.....

QUOTE(PlunketChris @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 04:24 PM) Let's take a gander at the positive... If we're still shooting for the division, we didn't lose any ground and Detriot has 3 with the Angels coming up. The Twins pick up one on us, but are still behind, and have 3 against the fairly hot Yankees coming up. We have 3 with the Royals coming up... The next 3 days can give us a nice buffer zone on the Twins and help us inch closer to The Tigers before we hit our more difficult end of the year. ah, and this PlunketChris is where you error........you see, when the White Sox have an opportunity to distance themselves by facing "inferior" opponents while their competition has a tough series, things go the opposite of what is logical e.g. our split with KC last time, or our scoring of unbelievably few runs against a Tampa staff that we should have absolutely annihilated. What we can then look forward to here, in line with opposite of expectations, is Detroit taking 2-3 from LAA, MN taking 2-3 from NY, and us losing 2-3 from a KC, thus putting us squarely back to 1/2 behind MN and 5.5 behind Det, progress of zero after two weeks....then we, the Chicago White Sox go on to face Clevelan, LAA, Oakland, Detroit for more lack of progress in the standings. At this point, we truly are playing to simply stay 1/2 gm ahead of MN on Oct 1st............

QUOTE(Leonard Zelig @ Aug 30, 2006 -> 10:27 PM) 0-5, 4Ks I still can't for the life of me understand how this could be the same person who played LF for us last year?? How could one guy collapse in every single aspect of his game, literally every single one???

what's the score?

QUOTE(stretchstretch @ Aug 30, 2006 -> 02:13 PM) These are the games where the Sox scare me.......when on paper everything points to blowout in our favor 1) their starter is 0-6 in his last 8 starts 2) our ace is on the mound going 11-1 with a 2.97 ERA over that period 3) they're the worst road team in baseball, currently on an 11 game losing streak 4) we're getting a slugger back and Dye remains in the three hole where is AL player of the week 5) DET is down two with two at bats left and we have a chance to gain more ground on them There's not a single category on paper that says we could possibly lose, except these are the games where our guys typically lay down........................will be interesting........... And here we go.................

QUOTE(maggsmaggs @ Aug 30, 2006 -> 02:43 PM) tigers lose, 4.5 games back. This is huge!! and they could be in the process of losing again an hour before our game starts, could be 3.5 before the night is over.......considering we were 7.5 games out after two against them, people should see how quickly a 4 game swing can happen.......

These are the games where the Sox scare me.......when on paper everything points to blowout in our favor 1) their starter is 0-6 in his last 8 starts 2) our ace is on the mound going 11-1 with a 2.97 ERA over that period 3) they're the worst road team in baseball, currently on an 11 game losing streak 4) we're getting a slugger back and Dye remains in the three hole where is AL player of the week 5) DET is down two with two at bats left and we have a chance to gain more ground on them There's not a single category on paper that says we could possibly lose, except these are the games where our guys typically lay down........................will be interesting...........

I predict we go up 7-0 on Tampa, I personally feel awesome seeing KC taking a two run lead into the ninth.......then Freddy gives back all the runs, we fail to score, our pen loses the game, and MN scores three in the 9th to make it a 1.5 game WC lead......thus causing me to spend the rest of the evening mulling over how f'd up this team is, wonderinng how the hell this happened, and spending all day tomorrow praying we don't go down 2.5 games.......

QUOTE(Balance @ Aug 26, 2006 -> 10:50 PM) They make the postseason in consecutive seasons in NY a lot. Atlanta, too, at least for the past 15 or so years. Why not us? Why not with a team that is allegedly better than last year's team? I learned my lesson after writing this team off completely last Sept....sometimes things aren't what they seem at the moment, and the present often cannot predict the future

With the sickening feeling I took to bed last night after that heartbreaking loss, I spent some time today reflecting upon how many things fell into place last year and how spending nearly a month's pay to fly in from the west coast and take my father to games 1&2 of the WS brought memories I'll take to my grave. I then stepped back and realized how unrealistic it is of me to expect a repeat of next year, with record setting 1-run wins, a pitching staff all having simultaneous career years, and almost perfect chemistry in the clubhouse, when considering how difficult it is simply to make the playoffs two years in a row, for anybody except the one team spending $250M per year. Ozzie makes a lot of mistakes, players go through highs and lows throughout the season, and the GMs moves don't always pan out (the gamble on Thome that no one else would take paid in spades, Vasquez did not). All in all we're still right in it, MN still has to play a month of baseball better than us, and there are about 4 very real possible outcomes (though all not equally probably), including MN taking the division, us taking the division, or Detroit not even making the playoffs. There's going to be moments of confidence and despair in the coming month, but I have to be patient and not over react because we might just win the WC by a 1/2 game and then win three straight series. No one on this site believed last Sept 25th that we were going to make the playoffs (and the Sox gave them every reason to feel that way), let alone go 11-1 through Bos, LAA, and Hous.......... Detroit's 10 game lead shrank to 5.5 in a few days, our lead over MN evaporated in days, we both face Bos, NY, Det, Oak, and LAA, no one has a clue how this crazy thing might go???

QUOTE(UC76 @ Aug 27, 2006 -> 11:09 AM) Why is this concept so hard for the Sox to understand. Don't be a hero. There is no need to be a hero. Just get on base and make something happen. Be smart. SMART! OK??? And..............this is where a team has a manager who provides instructions to his players before they enter the batters box saying "listen guy, this is a tie game and we need a quality at bat, so, take first strike, don't lunge for out and away, and do what you can to reach the first white square down down the white stripe on the right, OK??"[-

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Aug 27, 2006 -> 01:49 AM) Brian is hitting right at or over .300 for almost two months now. Why shouldn't be be in CF everyday? I could understand it back in April/May when he looked like this guy named Scott Podsednik at the plate. Our pitching sucks. One of the ways to neutralize our s***ty pitching is to play great defense. You can't do that with Mack in center. Period. This thread can end with this post, says it all perfectly....

QUOTE(MinnySoxFan @ Aug 27, 2006 -> 03:04 PM) Weren't people calling for Ozzie's head for keeping Anderson in the lineup earlier in the year? Yes, and that was a mistake by Ozzie, and now he's hitting great and he benches him?? another mistake by Ozzie. The kid has the game of his life in the 10-0 route at Detroit and then come home and bench the guy, what kind of message is that????? In yesterday's game MN only went up 5-1 due to a ball way over Mak's head that BA at least would have had a shot at (as would Rowand;-). The defense wins championships philosophy is either there or it's not, and if Ozzie practices what he preaches BA and Uribe start, period. He stuck with the guy when he was struggling, supposedly for his D, so what in G's name can be the reason not to play him now??? Anyone know BA's avg in the second half, we know it's good, but I never see it stated by anyone?

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Aug 27, 2006 -> 04:19 PM) We have Tampa and KC coming up next.... if we dont go 5-1 we might have a problem... Id like to see this team start to make a run though and there are no 2 better teams to do it against. I think the reason this thread is thin has to do with not only the let down of Fri and especially Sat (and that we lost ground), but at least for me a complete expectation of lackluster baseball against two teams that we should and need to crush while we have the chance in the next week, not to mention an stuggling Boston team and then Cleveland after that. The next two weeks are ripe with opportunity and I've been conditioned for us to split with the teams that a sweep of is almost mandatory at this point of the season. We should plan for MN to sweep and should be playing with urgency

QUOTE(Rattle Me Bones @ Aug 26, 2006 -> 09:13 AM) Comparisons are the natural by-product of winning it all last year. They were inevitably going to follow a season in which the Sox created the gold standard by which all subsequent Sox teams would be judged by. There's two ways to approach this as a team: you can crumble under the pressure of such lofty expectations or you can step up and try to replicate it. In any case the comparisons will be there as they provide the context for evaluation of a successful season. When we play MN on the road note the GIANT banner reading "back to back to back division champs"......there's nothing wrong with expecting repeat performances, especially after an unbelievable year culminating in a world championship and the addition of major payroll with the clear stated goal by the GM to repeat. Not making the playoffs is a disaster, no two ways about it. Boston maybe didn't repeat, and got swept in the first round, but at least they made it back....... We don't make the playoffs and this team will become rejoin the list of the media ignored in 2007.............. QUOTE(Mplssoxfan @ Aug 26, 2006 -> 02:56 PM) If Sox fans couldn't be negative, the Sox would have no fans. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Sox fans are glass-half-empty people by nature. We've all had drilled into our heads (unfairly, of course) that our team is inferior, our ballpark is inferior, our fanbase is inferior, blah-blah-blah-bla-die-blah-blah. We have a huge chip on our collective shoulder and the WS title didn't change the size of the chip that much. Can a leopard change its spots? Can Sox fans become sunny and optimistic? Having said all this, if anyone thinks I'm ever going to give up on this club, you're about three deuces short of a full deck. This race is going down to the wire, and it begins with a solid effort against the Venezuelan today. Great post, it's just the nature of rooting for a team that has been forever portrayed as second class, second rate, both inside and outside the city of Chgo.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Aug 25, 2006 -> 11:50 PM) I think they may overtake Detroit. They have a much better chance of doing that than the White Sox I'm afraid. You can take this line to the bank, MN is going to win this gaddam division. Consider us 5 back of the WC behind Detroit right now...........

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Aug 24, 2006 -> 03:39 PM) I know some people said this series was a statement or that the series finale was a statement. Yes, we played well these final two games (although only one was well pitched). However, we've had games where we play well, the problem is we can't string anything together because our rotation is a bunch of holes and Jon Garland. Very very true, it's easy to feel good after today's blowout, but in yesterday's game, like Tim Kurchin said on Baseball Tonight, 'yeah, you won the game but Freddy and Thorton giving up big hits means we have to score 7 to win, not cause for feeling good.' We have Javy, Jose, and Buehrle coming up, and there's every reason to fear getting swept this weekend against a hot hitting team that just happens to historically have our number, as much as it pains me to say it.....I fully expect to cussing at my TV en force this weekend wondering why we couldn't put a spanking on them coming off a 10-0 blowout

QUOTE(Frankensteiner @ Aug 25, 2006 -> 12:08 AM) Dye and Konerko are over 300, too. you guys misread what I said. We have two regulars above 300, yes, they are Paulie and Dye. "AJ and Crede just under" meaning they are not hitting 300 but are very close

Everyone knows about Mauer and Morneau, but Bartlett hitting 351 and Tyner 317, add Punto's 314 and that's five?? There's almost no sports media coverage of this lineup, just wondering why with these stats, seeing that we have only 2 regulars over 300 (AJ and Crede just under) and the sports media drools over our offense

If anything he's the one guy on the team that still has a swagger on the field.....would like to see that rub off on a few others

QUOTE(dagotony06 @ Aug 24, 2006 -> 03:27 PM) call me crazy if you want, but I have a strange feeling Vazquez is gonna pitch a gem. Well, after the way we've followed up recent mini-streaks, I'm not holding my breath....

cmon Baltimore put a hurtin on em so we can go into tomorrow heading in different directions

QUOTE(Rex Kicka** @ Aug 24, 2006 -> 01:24 AM) In-ish. I'd say the chances of a Wild Card berth are probably 65-35, but I don't see us making much noise in the playoffs. I don't see the same spark, I don't see the same fire, I don't see the same magic. But then again, I get to watch like 8 games a year (even on TV) - so what the hell do I really know? Yeah but......once in the playoffs I guarantee our guys would be just as jacked as everyone else, this is just a grinding part of a long season. I don't think any playoff team has ever just laid down, even the Skanks after their 3peat from 98-00?

I just started to notice that Frank (and Loiza) is there with the A's, Blum possibly with the Padres (he had 3 RBI tonight), El Duke with the Mets, and the Phillies still well in the WC race with ARow still on the roster. Would be ironic if all 4 very popular guys we traded last year end up on playoff teams and the Sox don't....... Would be especially sweet for Frank considering the violent public fallout with KW........